Foreign national arrested and charged after seizing “large quantities” of meth and heroin in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Two foreign nationals were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City on federal drug charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah announced.

Armida Viridiana Cayetano-Ruiz, 32, and Carlos Gerardo Brindas-Guzman, 30, are foreign nationals who both lived in Salt Lake City, according to documents. Police officers seized 11,435 grams of methamphetamine and 3,835 grams of heroin from a vehicle the two suspects were traveling in.

Cayetano-Ruiz and Brindas-Guzman were initially stopped for a traffic violation in Juab County on May 11, but a sniffer dog provided “a clear indication of narcotics in the vehicle,” according to the Justice Department.

After searching the vehicle, officers seized over 11,400 grams of a substance that field tested positive for meth, as well as over 3,800 grams of heroin, and the suspects were arrested.

Agents of the FBI’s Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force were informed that Cayetano-Ruiz was suspected of drug trafficking in several states, and in April 2024, the two first became the subject of an investigation for allegedly “distributing large quantities of narcotics to Utah.”

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and the Wasatch Metro Drug Task Force.

Cayetano-Ruiz and Brindas-Guzman are charged with possession of heroin with intent to resell and possession of methamphetamine with intent to resell. Their first court date is scheduled for May 30, 2024.

United States Attorney Trina A. Higgins of the District of Utah made the announcement, and Assistant United States Attorney Seth Nielsen will prosecute the case.